Christopher & Banks closing 100 stores, 2 in Minnesota

The company says it will be closing its Albert Lea and merging its two locations in Roseville into one. Weak sales forced the women's clothing retailer to cut about 20 percent of its staff earlier this month.

The company says it will be closing its Albert Lea and merging its two locations in Roseville into one. Weak sales forced the women's clothing retailer to cut about 20 percent of its staff earlier this month.

Christopher & Banks has named veteran retail executive LuAnn Via to be its new president and chief executive officer, the Pioneer Press reports. Via was most recently the CEO of Payless Shoes. She will start her new role with the women's apparel company on Nov. 26. Via replaces Joel Waller, who took over when Larry Barenbaum left the struggling Plymouth-based retailer in February.

The Post Bulletin reports employees at the south location in Rochester were notified it will close May 12. Best Buy built the store less than five years ago. It's among the 50 stores the Richfield-based electronics retailer is closing to cut costs.

The FDIC shutdown Patriot Bank in Forest Lake Friday. First Resource Bank in Savage agreed to take over the assets and deposits from the failed Minnesota bank. There have been seven U.S. bank failures in 2012. Patriot Bank is the first to fail in Minnesota this year.

American Bank of St. Paul, one of the Twin Cities’ riskiest lenders in recent years, has shuttered a second branch this year and plans to close another, the Business Journal reports. American Bank closed its Highland branch this month and plans to close its Phalen branch in St. Paul next month. The bank has been under heightened regulatory scrutiny since the Federal Reserve ordered it to improve its loose lending standards in 2009.